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Provincetown :: Friday, May 16th 2008
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Photo by Michael DiGioia.
Guardians of a Graveyard
A Reenactment of a U.S. Life-Saving Service Rescue Technique on Thursdays
By Kahrin Deines
June 30th, 2006
The treacherous shoals and shallow sand bars in the 50 miles of sea between Chatham and Provincetown have earned the area the nickname “graveyard of the Atlantic.” Over the last 300 years, at least 3,000 ships have sunk in this stretch of sea, with shipwrecks occurring as often as two times a month during some periods.
| Involving projectiles, a cannon, pulleys, and buoys, the historic “Beach Apparatus Drill” is an exciting demonstration. |
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Long before the U.S. Coast Guard existed to help these victims of the volatile Atlantic, the U.S. Life-Saving Service was formed to rescue sailors from their sinking ships. Created in 1872 by the federal government, the service was housed in a series of stations along the coast and members of the service bravely patrolled the coastline in all weather, often risking life and limb to rescue their sea-faring brethren.
One of these life-saving stations, the Old Harbor Station, resides in Provincetown today. Moved to Race Point Beach from Nauset Beach in the late 1970’s, the station is now used as a museum. Every Thursday at 6 p.m. in July and August, a rescue technique that was used by the Life-Saving Service is reenacted at the station’s beach location.
Involving projectiles, a cannon, pulleys, and buoys, the historic “Beach Apparatus Drill” is an exciting demonstration of a difficult rescue process performed by the service time and again over their 43-year vigil.
In addition to the reenactment, the Old Harbor Station has exhibits about the U.S. Life-Saving Service. Learn more about the “Guardians of the Ocean Graveyard” in the hours before sunset at Race Point Beach. For more information about the reenactment or the museum, call 508.487.1256.
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